It has been said that allergies are a phobia of the
immune system. Normally harmless substances
such as tree pollens and pet danders are tagged
by the body as potentially dangerous and targeted
by your immune system for destruction. In its
overzealous determination to keep you safe, your
body inadvertently afflicts you with the misery that
so many know as common seasonal allergy symptoms:
sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes and even
shortness of breath and eczema.

So how can we stop this immunological overreaction
and learn to enjoy the great outdoors again?
One important part of an overall holistic approach
to treating seasonal allergies is supplementing with
aged garlic extract (AGE).

Unburden Yourself
One of the founding principals of naturopathic
medicine is tolle causam, “treat the cause.” When
we ask, “What is the cause of this hypersensitive
immune system in the seasonal allergy patient?”
many potential answers emerge. One of the mostoverlooked factors is the constant burden of harmful
viruses and bacteria that many people carry
around with them throughout the year.

Pathological microorganisms can live and fester
in a person, wreaking havoc on his or her immune
system without the person ever knowing it.
We’re all aware of what it feels like when we “catch
a bug.” Those cold and flu symptoms emerge when
the body gets so overwhelmed by a harmful pathogen
that it erupts in a violent immune response.

But what about when the load of pathogens
is just under the threshold of causing an all-out
sickness? In these cases, we can feel run-down,
fatigued and just not at 100 percent. What we’re
experiencing is the subtle compromising of our immune
system. We may have some minor nasal congestion,
chronically bloodshot eyes, etc. Our immune
system is bothered, yes, but just not enough
to mount an all-out war. If this situation continues,
our immune system starts to experience the wear
and tear of being chronically under stress. It begins
to see the world as a dangerous place, full of potentially
harmful invaders, and it can develop an “itchy
trigger finger” where even benign substances, like
tree pollen, can be seen as threats.

Obviously, relieving our body of this onerous
burden of pathological bacteria and viruses is an
important step in calming down our immune system
and getting rid of seasonal allergies. And that’s
where AGE can make a difference in terms of addressing
the underlying issues that lead to allergic
reactions. Throughout the ages, garlic has been
known for its antimicrobial properties. In ancient
Egypt, garlic was prized by slave and pharaoh alike,
and references to garlic are even inscribed on the
pyramids. The Romans and the Greeks also relied
heavily on garlic in their own pharmacopoeia. Hippocrates
himself was known to recommend garlic
for pneumonia and other infectious illnesses.

Modern science has taken traditional healing
wisdom about garlic and brought it to a whole new
level with the discovery of S-Allyl cysteine (SAC),
one of the key components of aged garlic extract.
SAC is a water-soluble, sulfur-containing compound
with demonstrated antimicrobial properties.
AGE products such as Kyolic™ supplements that
contain standardized amounts of SAC give people
the power of having this microbe-scrubbing compound
in an odorless supplement that can be used
daily to fight the overgrowth of harmful pathogens.
As the immune system is freed from the burden
of the constant fighting against these microbes, it
can finally relax. It can stop its hypervigilant, reflex-ive tendency to attack anything it comes into contact
with, and simple pollens and molds can pass
through the body without triggering immunological
red alerts.

How’s Your Mucus Today?
Another key component to addressing seasonal allergies
is managing your mucus. Mucus is like an
oil slick created by the body to trap invaders and
send them “running” from the body. Thin mucus not
only resists bacterial and viral growth but helps prevent
harmful microbes from getting deeper into the
body and further aggravating the immune system.
However, if mucus is thick and viscous, it can instead
become a breeding ground for bacterial and
viral growth.

It’s a common scenario: seasonal allergies increase
mucus production. Thick mucus starts to
cause congestion, which becomes an incubator for
harmful microbes. The growing levels of harmful microbes
further aggravate the immune system and
result in even more mucus. Soon a person finds
him- or herself with a full-fledged sinus infection or
bronchitis and is often forced to resort to antibiotics.
This leaves the person even more vulnerable to
hypersensitivity reactions, such as allergies, in the
future. AGE has natural mucolytic (mucus-thinning)
properties that can help keep mucus flowing rather
than pooling. AGE also keeps antimicrobial SAC
high to cleanse the system of any immune-aggravating
pathogens.

Hitting the Immune System’s
Gas and Brake Pedals
Optimum health demands a strong and active immune
system to guard against infections and malignancies,
but we also want our immune system
to be calm and temperate to avoid allergies or autoimmune
diseases. That being the case, AGE is
a substance that can help strengthen the immune
system to fight pathogens and kill abnormal cells
and yet at the same time restrain the immune system
from overreacting to harmless allergens.

The research on garlic’s immune-enhancing
properties is compelling. Some studies show tumor
growth inhibition from increased immunostimulation
resulting from AGE. In one particular study,
published in the March 2001 issue of the Journal
of Nutrition, a certain type of lung cancer was transplanted
into animal subjects. Those subjects given
AGE showed tumor growth inhibition as well as an
increase in natural killer (NK) cell activity. NK cells
are one of the most potent aspects of immune defense. Here we see the remarkable immune-boosting
side of AGE. The specific antiallergy effects of
AGE were demonstrated in the same study as well.
Test subjects were exposed to a certain allergen
experience, and those receiving AGE showed significantly
less allergic response.

The study underscores AGE as a potent immune
modulator: AGE is able to stimulate the immune
system into doing some of the most vital protective
roles with greater vigilance and yet dampen
its tendency toward overreaction when exposed to
allergens. In other words, AGE can step on the gas
when your immune system needs to get revved up
to fight off an invader or take care of some menacing
abnormal cells and it can push on the brakes
when your immune system might otherwise be
throwing a tantrum over some harmless tree pollen.
This makes AGE an ideal immune supplement, a
sort of immunological smart pill.

Use the Right Tools
While consuming garlic through diet may have
many health benefits, to get the most impact, we
need to turn to supplements with standardized
SAC such as Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract. The impact
of allergies should not be underestimated. A
study in the February 2004 issue of Ophthalmic Epidemiology,
which examined the lives of more than
150 sufferers, clearly shows that people with seasonal
allergies suffer lost wages and a lower quality
of life. AGE provides a natural pathway to tackle a
serious problem. Note that garlic may interact with
certain medications, particularly some medications
used in fighting HIV and others, so speak to your
doctor first.

Spring will be here soon enough, and as your
friends reach for their tissues, nose sprays and eyedrops,
you can be enjoying the weather again—with
a little help from AGE.